Bad (3/10)Joan Baez - Whistle Down the Wind Motor City Drum Ensemble & Jeremy Underground - XOYO, London (State Of Rhythm, Worldwide FM) Venetian Snares - She Began to Cry Tears of Blood Which Became Little Brick Houses When They Hit the Ground

Appalling, deserves binnning (2/10)Ought - Room Inside the World

Not in my record collection, no sirree (1/10)Tuxedomoon - Live at Deaf Club, 1979

Amen Dunes, real name Damon McMahon, makes music that just feels inherently spiritual. What do I mean by "inherently spiritual"? Well for starters, the whole album is awash in fuzzy, psych-folk synths, that suggest a certain tenderness typically found in only the most pious of music, and ultimately serve to complement McMahon's voice, which is both vulnerable and strong at once, like a preacher wrestling with his faith. And then there are the lyrics, which are filled with biblical nods, from the names of saints to more abstract references.

And yet I'm hesitant to describe the album as strictly Christian music, despite the insistence of the lines that appear near the beginning of the album, "We play religious music, Don’t think you understand, man", because much like U2, Amen Dunes is able to construct his songs in a way that can appeal to both the devout and the nonbelievers of the world. The references are there if you want them, but if you don't you can still let the music wash over you.

Speaking of the music, the album finds a sound early and then sticks with it, featuring jangling guitars and reverberant drums and as powerful as it can be at times, it all really starts to blend together after a while. A little variation in the sound of the instruments would've gone a long way here. But that being said, Freedom is an enjoyable listen, and more than worth checking out for a unique take on what "spiritual" music can sound like.

Various Artists- Black Panther: The Album - Music from and Inspired By

Black Panther, the movie, is a solid superhero movie with great afro-futurist visuals and potent political themes concerning the role a nation has within the international community. Black Panther, the album, is a solid rap album featuring some of the genre's hottest stars (Kendrick Lamar, Vince Staples, SZA, among others...). And despite the fact that the album is attached to a movie made for the absolute broadest cultural appeal, the music of Black Panther is, with few exceptions, anything but. The most "pop" song on the album, by far, is the Kendrick Lamar/SZA duet "All the Stars", which appears early in the album. Elsewhere, on tracks like Zacari's "Redemption", the album flirts with silky pop-R&B. But songs like these aside, the soundtrack to Black Panther is filled with dark, often aggressive, often experimental, hip-hop. As an album it's a bit lacking in cohesion, mostly due to the fact that it's a soundtrack album with various artists taking the helm on each song, but it still manages to come together enough to provide a satisfying accompaniment to one of the year's hottest movies.

Kacey Musgraves, along with Sturgill Simpson, is one of a small handful of modern day country artists respected by people who typically revile the genre. Myself included. I was first introduced to Musgraves through her 2013 hit "Follow Your Arrow", a truly fantastic song that proved to be controversial among conservative country fans, with its references to homosexuality and marijuana consumption. I had neglected checking out more of her material though until I saw an overwhelming amount of attention focused her latest LP, Golden Hour.

Now let's just get a couple things straight here. Golden Hour is leagues, miles, hell, even a lightyear or two beyond the quality of most popular modern country music. Musically this isn't even in the same universe as someone like Dierks Bentley. Musgraves' voice is sweet and Southern tinged, and her music veers closer to folk-pop than it does to traditional country music. In fact, you could sub out her voice on the album for that of, say, Sheryl Crow, and you probably wouldn't even know you were listening to an album previously labeled as country. And while the songs on Golden Hour are tight and catchy and ultimately well-crafted pieces of pop music, this anonymity is the album's main, albeit only true, fault. Now, there are times on the album, like on the opener, "Slow Burn", in which you're thrown a genuine musical curveball. The curveball on "Slow Burn" comes about two and a half minutes into the song, when the acoustic guitars are drowned out by rising synthesizers and the vocals become dreamy and heavily layered and you momentarily forget what genre this album is "supposed" to be. But moments like this are rare, and I can't help but wonder how much of the attention the album has received has come from people who just want a hipper and younger Shania Twain, even if they themselves are too hip and young to admit it. Complaints aside, Golden Hour is still a country-pop ray of sunshine with some smart lyrics and the occasional surprise.

New Zealand based psychedelic-funk rockers Unknown Mortal Orchestra return with their fourth studio album, Sex & Food. And while the "food" part of the title may be something of a misnomer, the "sex" part is certainly here, courtesy of the band's sensual vocals and ultra-smooth guitar riffs, and while listening to the album it's easy to imagine Sex & Food as something Prince might have made had he been born thirty years later and joined an indie rock group. When Sex & Food is at its best though, is when some of this sensuality is dropped and replaced with pure vicious acid bath guitar riffs, like on the lead single "American Guilt" and the album's second track "Major League Chemicals". But when the sensuality is in place, it's best executed on the song "Everyone Acts Crazy Nowadays", which features an indelible chorus and vocals that sound like they're coming from an old radio, giving the song a distinctly nostalgic flair. When the album is at its worst is when the commitment to all things ultra-smooth overwhelms the songcraft, leading to songs that just meander along, like on "The Internet of Love (That Way)". Overall, Sex & Food might not be as satisfying as the band's previous album, 2015's Multi-Love, but it's still a worthwhile followup.

Ten months after her chart topping single, "Bodak Yellow", Cardi B is here to put forth that time honored definitive artistic statement, the debut album. Invasion of Privacy was released last Friday and was immediately met with the sort of polarizing reactions that Cardi B is well known for. The critics apparently love it, or at least like it a great deal, while at RYM the album sits firmly in the 2 point something range and the members of reddit's r/hiphopheads, one of the largest online rap communities, seem almost united against it. And if you remember some of my rants about "Bodak Yellow" on this site and others, you probably know how I'm going to feel about this project. Nevertheless, I tried to keep an open mind, and approached Invasion of Privacy as a chance to become properly acquainted with one of the year's hottest rap artists.

Invasion of Privacy actually starts off on a deceptively high note. Opening track "Get Up 10" features stirring piano notes and emotive lyrics detailing Cardi B's rise from rags to riches (along with sex, this is basically the only theme that the album has to offer, but at least on this song it's presented well). As the music builds in intensity, so does Cardi's voice, and for an artist that presents uber-high levels of confidence throughout her music, the hints of vulnerability she displays here are both welcome and surprising. At the end of the song Cardi promises that although she's been knocked down nine times she will ultimately get up ten, and the way she raps it practically forces you to believe it.

However, the album goes downhill quickly. The tracks that immediately follow "Get Up 10" (yes, this includes "Bodak Yellow") are all fairly bland, generic trap, with no real distinguishing features in the production, lyrics, rapping, or other elements of songcraft. Things do get a little better on the album's seventh track, the Latin-tinged "I Like It", which combines a prominent horn section with a catchy hook ("I said I like it like that!"), but elsewhere the album is the definition of mediocrity.

Look, I've read enough positive reviews of Cardi B's music to know why people like her. And it isn't because she's a great rapper on a technical level, or because she's a great lyricist, or because her songs have top-notch production, or because she's doing anything even remotely innovative. Because she's doing none of those things. People like her because of a) her personality, and b) her social significance. As for her personality, sure, she has a certain level of charisma to her. I may not enjoy her music, but even I'll admit that she comes off as a fun, engaging person on record. But...so what? Tons of rappers come off as fun, engaging people on record. Hip-hop is a genre built on fun, engaging personalities. It's built on the exact sort of braggadocio that Cardi B displays on Invasion of Privacy. So why her? Because she's a woman and she's unafraid of rapping about sex? Again, this begs the question of...so what? Cupcakke is another contemporary woman rapper who is also unafraid of rapping about sex, but who can a) actually rap, b) can actually pen more than a couple interesting lyrics, and c) has production that doesn't sound like it came from the "generic Soundcloud rapper #4853970" playbook. To elevate Cardi B above other, more talented, contemporaries simply because she's the one scoring #1 hits does no favors for anyone other than Cardi B.

Social relevance is certainly important, but since when did it become more important than the actual music?

The story goes like this. In February of last year, Saba's cousin, Walter Long Jr., was stabbed to death in Chicago. To describe Saba and his cousin as "close" would be something of an understatement, not only did they grow up together, as young black men in Chicago, but they were also rappers and frequent collaborators, Long J. performing under the name "dinnerwithjohn" as a member of a group of independent rappers known as Pivot Gang. Their lives seemed to be destined for a similar trajectory. Only Walter is dead and Saba is alive and here to document his grief over his beloved family member's death. Care for Me is that grief embodied.

They say that depression isn't so much sadness as it is absence of feeling, of weariness. And such is the feeling found throughout Care for Me. On the album Saba doesn't sound like he's crying his heart out so much as he's just exhausted with the demands of living, yes, his cousin's death plays a big part in this depression, but throughout the album Saba touches on isolation and social anxiety and being alone in ways that seem both connected and disconnected to the death of Walter Long Jr. Appropriately, the music is built to reflect this world-weariness, and the production employs heavy use of mournful pianos lines and minimal drum beats. On the album's penultimate track, "Prom / King", Saba raps a sprawling story about his cousin, jumping from a story before prom, cutting right through prom itself, as Saba explains both he and Walter went to different dances, and moving right to the aftermath of prom, where he's accosted by another young man and he explains how he's afraid to tell Walter about the incident, lest Walter kill the man. Saba then cuts to his musical career with Walter and uses the next story, about said career, to explain again how Walter was always there for him, as both a mentor and a protector. The final portion of the song recounts how Saba learned of his cousin's disappearance, but cuts off right before he finds out he's been killed. The whole narrative is loose and impressionistic and serves to reinforce, over and over, the gaping loss left by the death of Saba's cousin.

The end of the album does provide some solace though, with the track "Heaven All Around Me", which serves as a fitting final eulogy for Walter Long Jr. Saba may be worn down by his grief, but he won't let that grief get the better of him forever.

Janelle Monae's new album is dropping on Friday, and it has songs that feature Grimes and Brian Wilson (and others). That news definitely got me excited for this album. I guess I should listen to The Electric Lady before Friday. And I'll probably listen to The Archandroid for the 1000th times as well.

Jirin wrote:Anyone else think there are a lot of good albums this year with covers that are really unpleasant to look at? Cocoa Sugar...ick.

Yes, yes, YES!

I have a soft spot for good cover art and last years a topic like MegaCritic would already be fun because you got a lot of great covers on a row. This year it seems like everybody is exerting themselves to make either lazy or ugly covers. MegaCritic itself looks poor this year. Let me divide the bad covers of that topic in two groups:

Ugly:The Breeders - All NerveCardi B - Invasion of Privacy (this one really boggles the mind; how could anyone approve of this?)No Age - Snares Like a HaircutMGMT - Little Dark AgeHookworms - Microshift (This one also doesn't fit the music at all)Car Seat Headrest - Twin FantasyYoung Fathers - Cocoa Sugar (The best I can say is that it is original)

Lazy:Rae Morris - Someone Out ThereEverything Is Recorded - Everything Is Recorded by Richard RussellYo La Tengo - There Is a Riot Going On (the title is equally lazy)tUnE-YaRdS - I Can feel You Creep Into My Private LifeMarlon Williams - Make Way for LoveTy Segall - Freedom's Goblin (could fit both categories equally well; almost as bad as the one by Cardi B)Kendrick Lamar - Black Panther: The Album OSTKali Uchis - Isolation (this looks like a cheap rush-release of the nineties)Hot Snakes - Jericho Sirens (this one does too)

And that doesn't mean that the ones not mentioned are particularly great. I only really like the ones by Ezra Furman and Lucy Dacus.

I love the Cardi B album cover! Sure it's over the top, but the small details make it:

- The subtly distorted cathode rays - The REC in the corner give an air of interrogation- 'invasion of' cuts though 'privacy'- The outfit could read as a chess board or a resolution target - The Marlene Dietrich/Marilyn Monroe hair - The sunglasses protecting her from the glaring lights- The defiant snarl

She may have had her privacy invaded, but she isn't going to just sit by and become a victim. She is the queen of the chess board, a master of image manipulation.

Maschine_Man wrote:I love the Cardi B album cover! Sure it's over the top, but the small details make it:

- The subtly distorted cathode rays - The REC in the corner give an air of interrogation- 'invasion of' cuts though 'privacy'- The outfit could read as a chess board or a resolution target - The Marlene Dietrich/Marilyn Monroe hair - The sunglasses protecting her from the glaring lights- The defiant snarl

She may have had her privacy invaded, but she isn't going to just sit by and become a victim. She is the queen of the chess board, a master of image manipulation.

This may all be, but it all ends up looking hideously ugly to my eyes. Almost like all these elements where cut and pasted together without any thought of aesthetics.

Yeah the Cardi B album cover looks like a demented Gwen Stefani in her L.A.M.B era and that ain't a good look. Invasion of Privacy is pretty alright. I absolutely love "Bickenhead" - great banger that is just ridiculously fun to sing along to, and the girl is technically decent for sure.

Guess a separate thread will be created when our fellow US AMers will wake up, but I'll just say that Dirty Computer is very good. Rarely gets close to the heights of The Archandroid, but it's very solid from start to finish, at 50 minutes long it avoids the weaker spots from the previous 2 albums and could become an album I'm more likely to regularly listen to in full.And I haven't heard an album where the songs flow that seamlessly from one another, in a long time; that's some care for production and sequencing that I missed lately.

First impressions of Dirty Computer: Not as good as The ArchAndroid, but pretty good. It goes in more of a smooth R&B direction than I would have preferred, but there is are some higher energy tracks that give it balance (such as "Americans," one of the two clearest influences Prince's music had on this album). I found the few moments where hip-hop showed up on the album to be kind of abrupt and not all that interesting, but I'm not the biggest hip-hop fan around so you might want to take that opinion with a grain of salt. Other than that, I agree with Nassim, one of the strengths of this album is that it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Pop-funk-R&B queen, possible android, and heiress to the genius of Prince, Janelle Monáe, is back with her third studio album, Dirty Computer. Right off the bat, there are two things that separate this album from her first two. Number one, the length. The ArchAndroid is 68 minutes long, The Electric Lady is 67. Stack that up to her newest album, and the 48 minute long Dirty Computer feels comparatively lean, allowing Monáe to trim the fat where necessary, giving us an album that never, ever overstays its welcome. Number two is the lack of the "Metropolis" narrative that pervaded those previous studio albums. But if you were ever scared that Monáe would totally ditch her signature sci-fi techno-aesthetic on Dirty Computer, well, let me put those fears to rest. That aesthetic that helped make her famous is still here, albeit a bit buried in the background. What has come to the foreground are grander themes of self-love and acceptance and an all-out push back against racism, sexism, homo and xeno and trans-phobia, the likes of which Monáe's America has only come more and more aware of in the five years since her last album.

But enough about heady concepts like "themes" and "narratives" and let's cut to the music. Too often the word "colorful" is used to describe music, but man oh man, is that word all too appropriate to use here. From the opening track, the two minute long "Dirty Computer", Monáe hits us with a blast of technicolor funk that never lets up. That song features the sugar sweet rainbow vocal harmonies of none other than the legendary Brian Wilson, which provide an unconventional yet extremely satisfying accompaniment to Monáe's lead vocals. Meanwhile, album and career highlight "Make Me Feel" channels the spirit of Prince to create one of the catchiest pop tunes of the decade, with a grooving bassline, tongue-click instrumentals (think Snoop Dogg and Pharell's "Drop It Like It's Hot"), and a pre-chorus that rises with climatic energy before dissolving into pure, danceable funk. Speaking of Prince, his fingerprints are all over Dirty Computer, for better and for worse. Wait, for worse you say? Yes, sometimes for worse. Because, you see, as much as I love the "Kiss"-like guitars on "Screwed" or the "Let's Go Crazy" style energy of album closer "Americans" it can, at times, feel like Monáe has a bit of trouble letting her own identity shine beneath the Prince tributes. Now, this is a rather minor complaint, after all, even when the Prince homages become a little too overt they still end up being extremely satisfying Prince homages, and there are many worse artists you could construct an homage to than Prince Rogers Nelson. But for an album so focused on the concept of identity, it feels somewhat off to have the album so indebted to another artist.

But it should speak to the overwhelming power of the album that the only other complaint that I can think of is that the six minute long "Don't Judge Me" is just a bit too long. Dirty Computer is a fantastic album from a fantastic artist and it was well worth the five year wait.

^the only albums I've heard this year. The top three stand out above the rest, even though Lucy Dacus is catching up. I just downloaded the new Grouper and Jon Hopkins records, so I'd imagine they'll make an appearance before long.

Honorable Mentions:Andrew WK - You Are Not Alone: Never heard this guy's music before. I really admire his inspirational tone throughout the album, and the sugary nature of the instrumentation fits snugly.Kimbra - Primal Heart: Last four tracks are my favorite, because I'm a sucker for vocal pop. "Top of the World" is cool, too. Sometimes too mainstream for my tastes though.MGMT - Little Dark Age: Was a bit disappointed after having my expectations rise so high when I first heard the lead single "Little Dark Age". It wasn't the dark dance album I was hoping for. But still a quirky, catchy indie pop album.Kero Kero Bonito - TOTEP: Nice little pop buffet on this short EP. The trio dives into guitar-based music, with decent results.JPEGmafia - Veteran: Pretty catchy and relatively accessible for an experimental hip-hop album.

List Proper:07 | Judas Priest | FirepowerActually my first time listening to this veteran metal band. Apparently they've been at it for around fifty years!!! I don't listen to much metal, but man, this is a fun listen. Kinda proves age isn't a factor.06 | Anna von Hauswolff | Dead MagicReally solid ambient rock / post-rock / gothic rock album. First two tracks are freakin' fantastic. whooOOOOO05 | A.A.L. | 2012-2017Great dance album. 04 | Flowertruck | Mostly SunnyI have a confession, guys: I think I have a new wave fetish. Following After Laughter last year, we've got another one! There's something about this sunny 80s pop-rock/synthpop style that I can't help but love. The singer's voice has a lot of personality, sounds like a mix of David Byrne, the B-52's male singer and Ian Curtis.03 | U.S. Girls | In a Poem UnlimitedI loved this from first listen. This is sooo up my alley. If I was making music, this is what I would want to make. I need more saxophone in my music in general. Out of the blue, this actually reminded me of Soundtracks for the Blind on a couple tracks.02 | Janelle Monáe | Dirty ComputerThis album just came out, but I feel pretty comfortable placing this so high. Catchy, danceable, substantive pop music. Everything I want, really. Take a look at the album thread for more thoughts.01 | Jack White | Boarding House ReachThis album is really weird. But I couldn't stop listening to it. People say rock music is dead. But we have to remember that no genre is dead if artists find a way to innovate. Elvis Presley did it, Jimi Hendrix did it, Television did it, Prince did it, Nirvana did it. Today their innovations sound standard, but at the time they were groundbreaking. Most recently is either Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, or Swans, depending on who you ask. Now, Jack White has zapped lightning back into rock and roll, and it is really refreshing.

English electronic music artist and Maryland university namesake (kidding) Jon Hopkins returns with his first album in five years, Singularity. While Singularity isn't all that big of a departure from his previous album,the critically acclaimed release Immunity, the music on his latest LP takes his signature sound and refines it even further, creating an experience even more satisfying than before.

Singularity is divided into two musical sections, the first half of the album containing full-bodied techno-rave anthems, with the later half containing a series of ambient electronica songs. The album starts off with a genuine tour de force, with the title track and then the album's best song, the absolutely crushing "Emerald Rush". But while the album's second half is a much needed comedown to the all night rager of the first half, at times it can get a little too formless for its own good. I like my ambient electronica with a couple really solid hooks, okay? But on songs like "Feel First Life" Hopkins is really able to master the balancing act between ambience and pop. crafting an ambient track filled with stirring pianos notes that bring to mind the perfect soundtrack to watching the sun rise after staying out all night. While I liked Immunity, it's Singularity that has really captured my attention.

While I initially wrote off Iceage as just another band of post-punk revivalists with nothing new to say, it was on their 2014 album, Plowing Into the Field of Love, that I really began to appreciate their music. That album ditched the angry young man rock of their earlier work in favor of a gothic/art rock set of sensibilities, in some ways similar to the work of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. Four years later and the band has returned with their first album since that 2014 release, with the album Beyondless.

Beyondless represents another shift in their sound, albeit one a little more subtle than before. On this album, Iceage retain that raucous punk energy that their early work had, but it's clear that the band has matured, and that energy is filtered through the experience that comes with age. This maturity comes in the form of additional instrumentation, such as horns and strings, and on one song what sounds like a xylophone, which helps flesh out the band's sonic palette and prevents the album from growing one dimensional. And while this album is a punk record through and through, the rocking parts are less indebted to a post-punk revival trend that has, frankly, grown a little stale, and more indebted to the likes of Iggy and The Stooges. Iceage may wear their influences on their sleeve, but on records like Plowing Into the Field of Love and Beyondless, the band proves that their capable of taking those influences and updating them in subtle, and oftentimes unexpected, ways.

Listen, jazz is one of those genres that I like, but I have absolutely no idea how to talk about. It's always seemed to me that in order to be able to talk about jazz with some authority, you need to have mastered at least three instruments common to the genre as well as watched the entire Ken Burns documentary series "Jazz" at least twice over. On both of these counts I fall drastically short.

So I really don't have much to say about the new Sons of Kemet album Your Queen Is a Reptile other than it's a nine song collection of afro-jazz. I am rather partial to the more upbeat, fast-paced numbers (like "My Queen Is Harriet Tubman"), and less partial to the slower, more meandering ones (like "My Queen Is Mamie Phipps Clark"). If you like afro-jazz I'd imagine you'd like this too. Maybe. Who am I to say? Hopefully I figure out how to talk about jazz before the new Kamasi Washington album comes out.

Anyone else listen to or care about Ashley Monroe's new album Sparrow? I found it surprisingly engaging (for the first half at least) and the melodies are incredibly sticky on a lot of these songs. I'd definitely give it a shot if you're mildly interested in modern country that doesn't sound grating. Highlights: Orphan, Hands on You, Mother's Daughter, Rita, Wild Love, This Heaven.

On a separate note I'm also kind of disappointed with Daniel Avery's new LP, Song for Alpha. I'm totally cool with ambient music generally but I feel like there isn't much to latch onto here. Highlights: Projector, Sensation, Clear, Slow Fade.

Following the trail of February 16th, last Friday was packed full of good to great releases.On the great side, DJ Koze and Jon Hopkins might have both find a place of my personal current year's podium. Jon Hopkins delivered more of the same, which made the first listen a teeny tiny bit underwhelming, but it's more of something I truly love so I already got over the initial reaction. Knock Knock on the other hand was more of a surprise, as I didn't remember liking Amygdala much. Might work or not for you, but I personaly hear Knock Knock as a spiritual successor to the Avalanches' Wildflowers : same way of beautifully flowing along, same feeling of remembering sunny days or a past love, truly a lovely album.On the pretty good side, Gaz Coombes delivered more than expected in a very elegant and surprisingly adventurous album, while Iceage delivers a... well, just read Nick's review.

I didn't listen to it in as a good setting as the other Friday releases so I might have judged it a bit fast, but the new Eleanor Friedberger album seemed very average and tepid for one half of the Fiery Furnaces (not that I'm a huge fan of them, but at least they had a distinctive and unique style).

Haven't seen much discussion here on the new Liz Phair Exile in Guyville Reissue, so let me just say that the Girlysound Tapes that come with the reissue are fascinating. I had heard some of them before, but listening to the whole thing just reminded me how amazing Liz was from the beginning. I know they won't be regarded for EOY lists, but considering how widely acclaimed something like Dylan's Basement Tapes are I think it's only fair I say that as of right now those GirlySound Tapes are my pick for album of the year, Golden Hour in second. Clearly there's a lot of great music to look forward to, and I still have to give the new Monae album and Beach House album a listen to, but for now that 3 disc set remains the musical highlight of the year for me

Lots of four on the floor beats, high bpms, and vocal and guitar loops. Yep. It's deep house. But it's fun damn it, even if the songs do tend to blend together after a while. There were times when I was listening to this album that I thought how this would make the perfect dance party soundtrack, both in spite of and because of its flaws. For one things, the album is a staggering 78 minutes long, and for another thing, the album is remarkably consistent sound-wise, never once is there some spare track that totally throws the album for a loop. So yeah, it gets samey after a while, but samey has a time and a place, and if that time and that place is in a makeshift basement rave you and your friend have set up in his basement, where the dancers are too intoxicated to notice that they've been grooving to the same album for the past four hours, well, then that's just fine.

Verdict: Despite/because of its length and repetition, a very good album. Highlight: Pick Up

Arctic Monkeys- Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

The Arctic Monkeys became indie rock darlings after their 2006 debut album, and genuine indie rock idols following their 2013 album AM, an album that won them a legion of new fans thanks to its ultra-slick, accessible sound. So what did the band do to capitalize on their newfound status? Well they put out absolutely nothing for five years, only to return with an concept album about a 1970s style hotel on the moon. Also, the whole thing is lounge pop music.

Yeah, it's a real "what the fuck" moment, which is both hilarious and something of a middle finger to their new fans. But how's the actual music, huh? Well I'm happy to report that the music's actually up to snuff, mostly anyway. Alex Turner composed this album entirely on the piano, which he apparently learned to play specifically for the album, and it absolutely shows. Guitars and pushed to the back here, and the piano becomes to album's focal point. On Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino Turner sounds like a lovesick alcoholic has-been rock star, the kind that wears expensive suits and make people uncomfortable and has been sentenced to play the hotel/casino circuit. Oh yeah, and he's also on the moon. Apparently that's important here.

It's a jarring concept, and I've even seen some call it embarrassing. But you know what? I'm happy for Turner. Here's a man who had a vision, a completely ridiculous vision, sure, but a vision nonetheless. And he faithfully executed it. Love it or hate it, there's nothing halfhearted about the man's approach to Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. It's not all that common to see an artist have such a fully realized and totally oddball aesthetic and then make that aesthetic come through on song after song like Turner does here.

But that all being said, the album is a little scant on actual songs, and it's missing the big, bold hooks that drew many people, myself included, to the band in the first place. And the lounge pop in space aesthetic, while great, does tend to get a little samey after some time. One place where these criticisms absolutely do not apply, however, is the song "Four out of Five", the best song on the album, that comes with a killer hook and is about putting a taqueria on the roof of the titular space hotel/casino. Yeah, I'm not making that up.

Overall, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is a frequently confounding, occasionally frustrating listen. But it's a listen that ultimately has plenty of rewards. I may have some misgivings. I may wish there were some more hooks. I may wish the band changed up the instrumentation a little more. I may wish a lot of things.

Just when I think that the band's sound has run its course, Beach House find a way to subtly tweak it, and in the process, open up a whole new sonic dreamworld. On the band's appropriately named seventh album, Beach House take their signature dream pop and combine it with bits of psychedelia and shoegaze, to create what may be their best album since 2010's Teen Dream.

The opening track, "Dark Spring", is a propulsive feedback drenched salvo, and easily their most exciting song in many years. It's not often that I'd describe a Beach House song as particularly muscular, but with the heavy drums in the beginning and the whirling, distorted guitars at the end, it's hard not to apply that label here. A little further into the album and the lead single "Lemon Glow" appears. At first I wasn't totally sold on this song, but it's really something that sounds better in the context of the album, and the rubbery, high-pitched synth line that drives the song, which I had at first found to be inscrutable, sounds totally appropriate, and just demonstrates one more way that the band can tweak their sound while still retaining their identity.

Overall, 7 is a darker and heavier album than previous Beach House releases, and an ever so slight reinvention, just one more perspective on a completely individual style of beauty that the band has embodied for the bulk of their career.

More people should check out this Hop Along album [Bark Your Head Off, Dog]. It's a mid-rocking rock album, female lead vocals. I liked it, but I think some of you might like it more, like the DocBrown-Jirin-type crowd.